Happy quarter, everyone! Be warned: it's a bit of a monster this time, if the title hadn't tipped you off.
(
Balladeer: Shall I host, Zero?
ZeroJones: I'll have to hand hosting duties to Balla... Yes! Let's go!
andyman949: Woah, this isn't what I was promised.
masofdas: We want Zero...
...from Mega Man.
Balladeer: Admintendo starts here, you rotten lot.)
Balladeer: There are officially now more Admintendo(e)s than there are Harry Potter books. Welcome to Admintendo 8! I'm Balladeer, your friendly neighbourhood Administratorialator, and I'm joined in the "studio" by ZeroJones, masofdas and andyman949. G'morning, gents!
ZeroJones: Morning, boss!
masofdas: Morning.
andyman949: Morning everyone!
The ForumBalladeer: And we start with the biggest stories of the week… Sorry, wrong show. Rather, we start with the biggest forum happenings of the quarter. Andy, anything that caught your eye over the last three months?
andyman949: An immediate highlight has to be Buska's excellent job on the Secret Santa, I think we all got a nice stash and had a great time both buying and receiving.
Balladeer: Don't think anyone can deny that! Apart from me, of course - I got sent a load of Playstation trash by some inconsiderate jerk.
andyman949: *innocently whistles*
masofdas: At least it wasn't Microsoft stuff.
Balladeer: Dunno which would be worse! Anything caught your attention this quarter, Mas?
masofdas: Yes apart from the Secret Santa, the Wii U eShop thread: there's been a lot of talk in that recently, especially between me and you Balla on the subject of Pier Solar. We might have different views on it but it's still good to have discussion on such things. And others such as Zero have been dipping into the download section a lot: it seems a good active part of the forum now.
Balladeer: (shudders at mention of Pier Solar
)Just kidding Mas.
And finally, anything from Zero?
ZeroJones: I've enjoyed the Pokétalk a lot and am pleased to see someone's used a Phoenix Down on the GNamer Podcast. And the Secret Santa gets thirded, although I've not brought myself to eat some of the things I got!
Balladeer: Agreed: really looking forward to the podcast… if it records correctly.
masofdas: Yeah hoping it all goes well tonight with the podcast. Also I thought this being VIII there would be some ballroom dancing here at least.
Balladeer: Anyone who has ever seen me dance will know that I'm saving you all from a great tragedy by not doing so.
andyman949: Are we renaming ourselves the FF fan forum?
Balladeer: Depends. Does
Bravely Default count? It's FF-like!
masofdas: It counts.
Balladeer: Super, then I'm in. GNamer FF Fan Forum, let's go!
ZeroJones: I was going to make a 'six wives' joke...
Balladeer: ZJ, bringing the class to Admintendo since 2013.
Er, right. On-topic, I also really enjoyed the SS. I've had great gifts both years: Drunkalilly's Pratchett calendar, and now the Mega Absol who stands proudly beside my TV. Soon to have a sibling in my copy of
Alpha Sapphire!
I've also really enjoyed the Smash and Pokémon talk, even if the latter centred around "it's too easy" a lot. (It is though.) And I'm also enjoying setting up the forum awards!
I don't think I can hide it any longer: I really enjoy voting threads.
ZeroJones: Me too! More for 2015!
masofdas: More voting, I like that.
andyman949: I like to vote.
Balladeer: TCK will hate us all...
Nintendo GamingBalladeer: Moving swiftly on now, to Nintendo format games we've been playing over the last quarter. Andyman, what have you enjoyed playing?
andyman949: First again? Blimey! I've had my time spread across quite a few games recently. Over the course of October a lot of my time was taken up by Smash Bros 3DS. It was my commute game of choice and I did all the challenges that didn't simply involve racking up time (minus level 9 classic, bloody crazy hand).
My next big thing was with the Bayonetta games, Bayo 2 was a game which I absolutely fell in love with! Such a beautiful, fun intense and more accessible game than the first, it quickly sucked me in despite the more wobbly story and the jarring Bayo swears.
Next came Smash U which has made 3DS look a bit sad in comparison. 8 Player matches with friends/amiibos, excellent online and that's not mentioning how stunning it looks. An absolute pleasure.
I then stumbled across Shovel Knight after hearing so much praise for it and I found out they were not wrong. A stunning game that hides a bunch of brilliant, deep systems behind its retro charms.
Finally I've had a Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate resurgence of late, likely due to the impending release of 4U, but it has been great to be back on the hunt. Really hoping I'll get the chance to 100% this before it likely gets forgotten in favour of its newer, shinier friend.
Balladeer: A great list! You know that you have to beat Classic 9.0 without losing a life in SSBU? And can't use a golden hammer on the challenge?
andyman949: I've not dared attempt that yet. It's odd but whilst I love the multiplayer, the single played hasn't set my world on fire in U.
Balladeer: I've a lot to say on SSBU's single-player, but I'll leave that until my turn.
ZeroJones: Don't tell mas, but I'm struggling to get into Bayo...
masofdas: You strange man Zero, but I guess if you don't like that genre doesn't matter how good it is.
ZeroJones: I just feel like I'm mashing buttons.
andyman949: I will offer you a word of comfort, Zero, Bayo 1 is a very inaccessible game. 2 is a nicer starting point (oddly).
Balladeer: Maybe that's my problem too. Why don't you tell us what you have been able to get into, Zero?
ZeroJones: The big game of the past three months has been Alpha Sapphire. It's lovely but the - yes! - difficulty level has dropped compared to RSE, and that's not what I wanted.
There's also been the MK8 extra content, which really fleshed it out beautifully.
Thirdly, three downloadable games: Shovel Knight, Ittle Dew and Thomas Was Alone - all fun, fresh and joyful to play.
Balladeer: You're making me feel guilty about my lack of eShop attention again.
So many games, so little time...
ZeroJones: You should! There are a lot of little gems on there.
andyman949: Ittle Dew sounds like something I'd very much like to pick up at some point. How does it rate?
ZeroJones: Ittle Dew is too short but that's because it's pure dungeon, all the time. It's clever, subversive and ideal for speed runners or 100% completionists.
Balladeer: Neither of which I am. Still interested, mind.
andyman949: Sounds like it might be a sale game for me. Thanks!
masofdas: I totally forgot the MK8 DLC came out. I've played it of course though. There's the eShop dipping into I was on about from Zero, Ittle Dew does look good, but I heard from you it's Zelda 2D-esque, which I'm not much of a fan of.
Balladeer: Was going to ask you to give your games next, Mas. Why don't you continue?
masofdas: Okay, I will.
Much like the most of you, I’ve been playing Pokemon ORAS which is the first time I've played the gen 3 games and I thought they were great with my fairies and dragons.
But that's on the 3DS side of things: on Wii U, a lot. I'm not going to repeat Andy on the Bayos. But on Hyrule Warriors, which came out late September & had a fantastic bit of DLC these past months: the game should be rubbish but looks great, fan-service is excellent and just a fun experience.
Also been playing a few eShop games myself but only for about 15 minutes each, as there are too many games. Apart from Pier Solar which I did stick a good hour into right away. I did go on about it a lot on the eShop thread after playing it, but all I can say is if you like JRPGS from 1992-4 then pick it up.
Ohh, and I started Captain Toad which seems a good little puzzle game. Quite good to play after watching Game of Thrones: very different.
Balladeer: The image of Captain Toad in
Game of Thrones is… alarming. Spores everywhere.
andyman949: I just started Captain Toad last night and I was pleasantly surprised. I think I really overestimated how easy it would be.
ZeroJones: Captain Toad is fun! Like a Rubik's Cube, you twist and rotate, looking for an angle of attack...
Balladeer: Hope it's harder than ORAS...
masofdas: Some of the feats do seem difficult. I don't know if you unlock anything from doing them all.
andyman949: You get a lovely stamp.
masofdas: I know that, but if you do all 70?
andyman949: I think you're undervaluing a tick and a stamp mate.
ZeroJones: I am in the business of ticks and stamps - love 'em!
Balladeer: Anyway, my turn. It's been mostly Smash: bludgeoning my way through the challenges in 3DS, before doing much the same for SSBU. I can't say that I "enjoyed" all of that, but both games are class acts. Just feel a bit rushed in places, is all.
In between, I've been distracted by numerous things. MK8 DLC, a.k.a. DLC done right;
Fantasy Life, which still feels a bit too much like an offline MMORPG to me;
Shovel Knight, but I've never been a fan of the whole "retro revival" thing; and
Bayo 1. Like Zero, I've struggled to get into it, but it's competing with Smash for my time, and that's never a good match-up.
And then for Christmas,
Alpha Sapphire. Easy easy easy, but I've enjoyed building up my team of Mega-ables so much. Cower before my shiny Metang! (Not a euphemism.)
ZeroJones: Metang! That's a nice bit of Pokécockney rhyming slang!
andyman949: I really need to get an online session on that Mario Kart DLC, really enjoyed my basic run arounds but would be nice to seem them in all their glory.
ZeroJones: Agreed.
andyman949: Also Fantasy Life is one of my saddest gaming moments of last year. That game just got lost in the Christmas rush
Balladeer: In that it was really good and ignored, or...?
andyman949: Good and ignored.
masofdas: That's a game that I would like to pick up, but just too many at the moment.
Balladeer: Story of my gaming life. Anything further to say before we move on?
masofdas: There is something to unlock for getting all the feats in Toad, just googled it.
Other FormatsBalladeer: And with the Captain Toad dilemma settled, it's time for the multiformat section of the Skypecast, where Zero and I look clueless for a bit. Mas, what have you been playing on non-Nintendo consoles this quarter?
ZeroJones: (Duuuuuh... there are other formats?!)
Balladeer: (Apparently.
(shrugs))
ZeroJones: (Of course, I am typing this on an iPad...)
masofdas: Not as much as you would think, actually: most of my time has been spent with Nintendo.
But of course there was the new big IP in Destiny, which is sound from a gameplay perspective, but after the so-called story was done that was me done. I'm not one for looting & repeating the same thing again and again. There was also the new CoD which had a great story thanks to Spacey & Baker.
But most of my time has been with downloads. I finished Unfinished Swan and Thomas was Alone: both have excellent story telling. Dust: An Elysian Tail I played again.
It's been great for downloads. There's been a few others but I’ve not put enough time into them yet. Also one more game that Andy will bring up.
Balladeer: I heard that
Destiny fell under the CoD bracket of overhyped underwhelming empty experiences. Is that fair?
masofdas: YES.
andyman949: No.
Balladeer: Told me!
andyman949: But I'll discuss that in my section
masofdas: I preferred COD as it had a story mode over Destiny, but I will be going back to it due to the DLC.
andyman949: Does sound like I'm alone in thinking Thomas Was Alone is merely alright then? Fun little puzzler but not something I'd rave about.
ZeroJones: The gameplay is pretty slight but the TWA story is great.
masofdas: Yeah the story is excellent in TWA. That’s something I will bring up later because of it.
andyman949: I might give it another spin some time due to the free PS4 upgrade.
Balladeer: Your section, then, Andy! And defending
Destiny, no doubt.
andyman949: Right, what haven't I been playing?
Balladeer: …
Sonic Boom?
masofdas: (The show is good and I still need to pick up that game.)
(Years, decades, centuries pass. Civilisations rise and fall. Stars grow into red giants and die. A universe ends, another one begins. Finally...)- Andyman’s Epic Other Formats Appraisal:
Destiny was massive at the time the quarter kicked off and I was in love with the game. If you went in just for a good campaign experience you were going to have a bad time. This is a game designed for teams of 3 people to tackle increasingly difficult set pieces. Anyone who goes into a co-op game expecting a great story is missing the point. I have never played a game in co-op and actually taken enough note of the story to enjoy it properly. You're distracted by chatting with your mates both about the game and other stuff. You don't want a heavy story or it'll be lost on you. The gunplay is amazing and the game really is difficulty, especially with the weekly souped-up strikes and Bungie constantly working on stomping out exploits to keep the raid in peak condition. The multiplayer is superb and there is little else like it out there. Would I recommend it to anyone playing solo? No, but I also wouldn't recommend Borderlands or Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris.
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor was my next very pleasant surprise. I was always looking out for it slightly cautiously with it looking like a nice mix of Assassins Creed and Batman, so when I read Joe Skrebels’ preview my hype levels really started to rise. The game is good enough on its own, but the nemesis system is absolutely amazing. Meeting an Orc that killed you previously and finally besting him is so satisfying, as is simply messing around with the hierarchy as you pick off or convert them at your will. Watching as Uruks you thought you had killed, come back with weird augmentations that are keeping them alive is amazing. Top stuff!
Sunset Overdrive came next shouting about how big and original it was (even though it isn't) and it turned out to be a great fun. The game is part Ratchet and Clank, part Infamous, part Jet Set Radio, so as you may be able to tell, it's all about keeping moving and killing folks with silly weapons. Really fun, the only problem is there are simply too many guns to use (is that a problem really?).
Next up CoD came and showed us they've still got it. After the sub par Ghosts Sledgehammer showed up and showed us they knew how to make some fun. Great movement, great gunplay, top notch!
Assassin's Creed Unity came out to mass complaints at how buggy it was but that didn't stop me. It turned out to be the best Creed game (as a Creed game) It took all the elements that we loved about AC2 and improved them. Better combat, a beautiful revolutionary world and a setting that actually had buildings worth climbing. The story was actually interesting (if not a tad rushed).
Next came Dragon Age Inquisition and boy what a game that was. I recently sprinted through the first 2 to get ready for this game after I realised this was really something special and it was worth it. You start off in a beautiful expansive land with tons to do and then you find out that's just one of MANY areas. The combat is much improved, the characters are as excellent as any Bioware game and the story had really tough choices that didn't simply have a right and wrong answer. Amazing!
Then Christmas hit and I've had the chance to play the brilliant Far Cry 4. It takes all the elements of Far Cry 3 and puts them in a better location. Hunting, free roaming, tackling bases, and all now possible with a friend. Plus the campaign missions were top notch (though the story did kind of lose itself by not really fleshing the ending out well enough, could've been really special too).
Final game I want to talk about is The Evil Within. A game I'm surprised Mas hasn't mentioned being a Survival Horror lover, but there we go. A really interesting ride with some incredible highs but also some ridiculous lows. The shooting is brilliant, satisfying and tense, the story isn't bad and the bosses are suitably unsettling. The problem is they randomly throw in stupid stealth sections. They did not get the enemy AI right and it's a mess. You reach a point in the game where going loud would cost too many bullets/get you insta-killed and it just ruins it. Worth a play but unfortunately brings it down from the heights it should have reached.
andyman949: Sorry guys! Got carried away...
Balladeer: I'm putting that in a spoiler when I publish this.
andyman949: Fair enough! Also Forza Horizon 2 is pretty great.
masofdas: I wanted to bring up about Dragon Age 3 which has been rather disappointing to me. I had the week off to play it, I got 21 hours in, and went to play Pokemon instead. I haven’t gone back. I didn't like the characters or the forced side quests, to the extent that I've been tempted to trade it in quite a few times.
Was going to talk more about some of the stuff andy brought up, but that was the main one.
andyman949: I can't say I agree that the side quests are forced. The power comes so easily that I had over 200 at the end of the game. Once you get rolling after doing about 3 initially it's pretty free from there. Obviously I can't make you like the characters but they really are pretty well written folks with good developing stories.
Balladeer: Okay, I think that's enough on other formats!
Looking BackBalladeer: So, we move onto a
brief retrospective of the entire year. Zero, how's your gaming year been in general?
ZeroJones: Great! The big Nintendo games may not have delivered (bar MK8), but the downloadable scene on Wii U took off dramatically and made up for it.
Balladeer: Can't quite agree with you there, Zero - both AS and the SSBs delivered for me!
masofdas: Same: nearly all of Nintendo’s games have been great this year. Only one that I wasn't a fan of was DKC:TF.
ZeroJones: AS is too easy and the SSBs have strayed too far from the template I loved as a youth.
Balladeer: I think the SSBs have stuck to a fairly similar template throughout, but each to their own!
andyman949: Aye, Smash seems pretty bang on to me. Plus I love the ever-growing character sheet.
masofdas: It's not Melee though.
Balladeer: I dunno - the fighting is sped up from
Brawl, and it's got the clone characters!
Mas, what's your year's retrospective?
masofdas: It's been a funny old year. I did my thoughts on the 8th gen on the forum and it's been rather muh on the PS4&ONE as you can see from what I've been playing. So the only real highlight is going to EGX and playing all the great games coming in 2015.
Balladeer: And finally, Andy's year!
andyman949: I think from my list of this last quarter alone you can tell I think it has been a great year. That was without mentioning all the great stuff we had in the first part (don't worry I won't do another big list folks
). I think people have been far too down on a year that has increased my games collection massively!
masofdas: I disagree. It's been one of the worst in recent memory, to the extent that 2015 will be looked on as a superb year just because this one has been so bad.
Balladeer: I'm not down on it! Well, maybe a bit on the 3DS front, but I had some decent games carrying over from last year at the start (
Bravely, ALBW), and SSB3D and AS at the finish. And I feel that the Wii U's really hit its stride this year. Got to disagree with Mas on DKCTF: the soundtrack alone makes it for me. And then HW, the Bayos, SSBU, MK8… Nope, I've had a great year.
Oh, and a couple of fantastic gaming events: Nintendo's not-E3 that put proper E3s to shame, and a group gaming session around my flat. Eight-player relay-race MK8! Great fun.
ZJ may remember the latter.
ZeroJones: Maybe...
andyman949: I totally agree on the Nintendo front, I think it has been a stunning year from them. It took me a while to get into DKCTF but I rate it incredibly highly now.
I also don't think being the worst year in recent memory is a bad thing. I know that I have enjoyed the last few years’ worth of games more than I ever have, so even if there is a bit of a dip (and even then not by much) it's no bad thing.
ZeroJones: 2013 was better for the 3DS but the Wii U really kicked into gear in 2014.
masofdas: Yeah it's been great on Wii U, but not anywhere else.
Balladeer: And for me, Mas, that's enough! Anyway, the Wii U's been out for one more year than the BBoPs. I'm sure they'll have a good 2015.
Looking ForwardBalladeer: Not that the Wii U's 2015 looks bad! Which brings us nicely to the finally segment of Admintendo VIII: Squall is a Whiny Whiner, as we look forward to 2015. Especially Q1, but also the rest of the year. Zero, what are your thoughts on both Q1 and 2015 as a whole, for gaming and for the forum?
ZeroJones: I'm going to enjoy Captain Toad, and catching up on my eShop Desires backlog. Inevitably looking forward to more amiibi, Star Fox, Zelda, Mario Maker and the many surprises Nintendo must have in store.
There are a couple of things in store for the forum that I'm looking forward to implementing. Hope we can continue to go from strength to strength in the coming year.
Balladeer: Looking forward to those ideas, some of which I may already have seen. Same question to you, Andy?
andyman949: #secrets
I must admit I've not done a lot of looking forward yet. My head has been firmly stuck looking at the past with all of these Big Fat Quiz TV shows and the like. Game-wise the big one is Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate of course, though I'm hoping the New 3DSXL will come out with it (or before) or I won't be having as much fun as I'd like. I'm not looking forwards to Amiibos continuing to bankrupt me though!
As for the forum the obvious end of year vote is very exciting. I'll also look forwards to hopefully seeing more Mario Kart games arranged!
Rest of the year I'm similar to Zero on a Ninty front (minus Star Fox natch) and on the rest Batman and Uncharted are immediate exciting highlights.
Forum rest of the year I just look forwards to seeing Admintendo continue (and hopefully the podcast) and seeing Zero flex his recently found power to bring all kinds of chaos.
Balladeer: 
at that last part. I'll come online one morning, and ZJ will have taken over the Reggie account, and the forum will have been broken in two.
masofdas: With his head.
ZeroJones: My secret plans revealed! MWA-HA-HA-HA!
Balladeer: You've even got a cat to stroke...
ZeroJones: She won't let me stroke her - yet!
Balladeer: Finish us off, Mas (apart from me). What are your thoughts for Q1 and 2015?
masofdas: Q1 looks quite good with The Order, Bloodborne, FF Type-O HD and MM3D: shame we don't much on the dates from Nintendo on anything.
The rest of the year there's tons coming. I'm looking forward to about 20+ games, but 15 odd are indies such as: Volume (from the guy who did TWA), The Tomorrow Children, Rime, Gone to the Rapture, and 2 games I backed on Kickstarter: Hollow Knight & Elysian Shadows. Also my most anticipated game of 2015: No Man's Sky.
It looks an excellent year, apart from maybe Halo 5. I'm not hearing good things from the beta.
andyman949: I totally forgot about the Halo beta! Might need to check that out before the podcast
masofdas: I've been watching loads of games of it and it looks fine, but everyone says it controls differently and is ruined compared to Reach. 343 are now really doing their own thing and not playing it safe like with 4.
Balladeer: I'll agree with Mas on Q1: not much of interest for me there, apart from not having picked up CTTT yet, and of course the forum awards! (How could you forget those, Mas?
)
The rest of the year looks much better, on the Wii U at least. Nobody's mentioned
Splatoon,
Yoshi's Woolly World, or the magnificent-looking
Xenoblade X yet. Shame on y'all.
Unfortunately, the 3DS' schedule is looking a bit dull. I have no desire to play remakes of either LoZMM, XC, or the console. I'm not a TBS fan either, meaning STEAM is out. Might end up playing
Pokémon Z, if that becomes a thing, but hopefully Nintendo will pull their fingers out.
andyman949: There's a good reason nobody has mentioned Yoshi
Though the other 2 certainly are worth noting.
Balladeer: lexluthor.jpg
ZeroJones: There must be more up their sleeves! (I didn't mention the forum awards either - mi scusi!)
masofdas: The reason we’ve not talked about the likes of Splat is: when is it coming? Nintendo need a Direct to tell us when we will be playing something.
Balladeer: Could have sworn it was 2015, though.
andyman949: Aye it definitely will be. Nintendo have been super relaxed on dates recently (WHERE'S MY MONSTER HUNTER DATE?).
masofdas: Yeah it is, but when: tomorrow, or the 31st of December?
Balladeer: Looking forward to it either way!
CloseBalladeer: And that just about wraps things up! It's been a monster of an Admintendo, and I hope that you'll enjoy reading it as much as we did typing it.
masofdas: It was good fun to do.
andyman949: Thanks for reading folks!
ZeroJones: Aye, it has been blast-y!
Balladeer: From Absol Towers, farewell!
(
Balladeer: And I think that's a wrap.
masofdas: Yep.
andyman949: Apologies for my mega rants XD
ZeroJones: Yeah, stop Mega Evolving Rants, will ya?!)
Out-Take (while Andy was typing his OF piece)
Balladeer: 
masofdas: 
ZeroJones: So, how about that local sports team, huh? Are they bums, or what?
Balladeer: GOOOOO SPORTS TEAM!
masofdas: Yay sports.
ZeroJones: Andy's bluffing - he's typing out War And Peace.
Balladeer: Destiny and Journey?
masofdas: I thought we'd see that last year on PS4, Journey.
ZeroJones: There's still this year!
masofdas: Yeah it's coming, we know that, but it was shown on PS4 back at Gamescom.
ZeroJones: That's how clued in I am with other formats...
Home 
Discord 
Twitter 
YouTube 
Gintendo 
GRcade 
Sun 4 Jan 2015 - 20:11
I also forgot to mention Picross e5, but perhaps that says enough about the game... Finally, the cat is slightly more comfortable letting me stroke her now. 
The r(outer is to blame - yes, we know. Rest Of Forum). Ahem.